New Direction

The three-headed elephant statue of Erawan at the Erawan Museum in Thailand.
The three-headed elephant statue of Erawan at the Erawan Museum in Thailand.

 

The previous industrial era was led by the three-headed system of “bureaucracy, politics, and chaebol.”

Those in the era pursued a high-speed compressed growth strategy, and made it. However, the system that led the planned economy collapsed when the Korean economy opened up overall. Existing bureaucracy has lost its power with its theoretical ideas and lowered execution capabilities. Chaebol have fallen behind since the economic crisis of 1997. Politics has been keeping apace, but also lost trust among its people a long time ago.

This is why there is a claim for a new three-headed system replacing the old one that will guide the nation. A breakthrough should be discovered through diversity, communication, and lots of new ideas, rather than bureaucracy and regulations. “Now that the private sectors are better informed than the government, it cannot call the shots any more. With corporate CEOs in the center, the government and academia need to solve problems on-site, and this new three-headed system needs to overhaul each segment,” emphasized Park Seil, an honorary professor at Seoul National University.

It is urgent that a social safety net be strengthened to boost system competitiveness rather than economic prowess. Experts unanimously agree that educational system renovations are of utmost priority, since the current one accounts for the low quality of Korean citizens’ lives. Education plays a pivotal role, as it is the starting point of building a knowledge-based economy and leads to employment and welfare.

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